Poems & Photographs

FOR WANT OF SPICES (A Quadrille)

I got the image Wikimedia. Please click the photo to see the original page and owner of the picture.

For want of spices,
sailors sailed
across the seas to lands unknown
braving squalls and mutinies
searching for peppers, cloves, and cinnamon
only to find their precious spice
owned by ‘savage’ tribes –
once free, then no more.

I love this and it is a great tribute to the maritime traditions of those great explorers and the tragedy that came in the wake of the exploration. You have captured several centuries of deep history very effectively. LOVED this.